Survive the Swordland
by Alligator4301
Summary: Two sibling beta testers are thrust into the world of Sword Art Online and are challenged with hardships throughout their adventures.
1. The World of Swords

**Hey Guys sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. I just started High School and that's been a huge transition so I'm sorry for not posting, but I have a new story for you guys and without further adieu let's get into it.**

"Ren! Wake up! Breakfast!"

I woke up to my sister's screaming. I got out of my bed and changed out of my pajamas and went down stairs. As usual it was just me and my little sister eating breakfast seeing as our mom had to work two jobs to support us, but since my sister and I were 16 and 17 respectively we could take care of ourselves. I sat down and began to eat the breakfast my sister made.

"Wow, this is really good Tsubaki."

"Oh, it's just something I threw together" my sister began to blush. I thanked my sister for the meal and went back up to my room. I turned on the T.V. and flipped to the news channel.

"As you can see behind me gamers everywhere are lined up to buy the new hit game. Sword Art Online! There are only 10,000 copies available besides those lucky 1,000 who participated in the beta test for this revolutionary game." I smiled at the screen and looked at the Nerve Gear on my desk.

"It's finally time. I've waited long enough. Time to go back." My sister walked into my room and had a look of excitement in her eye

"Its out, let's go" She screamed ecstatically. Tsubaki ran to her room slammed the door. I smiled at her elation and laid on my bed. I hooked up my Nerve Gear rig and placed it on my head.

"Heh. I guess it's about time. Link start!" I began to see the diagnostics test results telling me that all of my senses were linked to the system. I then logged into my account and was transported into the virtual world I know and love. I began to look at my surroundings seeing as I hadn't seen this world in months. I looked through the countless players and spotted my sister's avatar. I would recognize that pastel pink hair a mile away. I ran over to her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Tsubaki come on let's get ahead of the newbies" I whispered my sister. We began to run to the wilds to gain some Exp and Col all the while laughing at the other players' amazement at the virtual reality. We ran into the fields and began to fight the basic monsters.

"Just like riding a bike, eh Tsubaki. You can't forget this stuff." I said laughing as I fought the simplistic enemies. I looked over at my sister who was completely ignoring everything, but her fight. She looked at me with a confused look.

"What'd you say?" I laughed at my sister's ignorant bliss. I looked at the setting sun and laid in the soft, green grass.

"It's so good to be back. I've felt like I've been missing something for months" I said aloud

"Yeah I missed it too Ren."

"Do you think we should call each other by our usernames so random players don't know our names?" I inquired

"Oh yeah I guess so, Tetsu" My sister mocked

"Yeah, whatever Kasai. Did you have to choose such an obnoxious hair color?"

"Hey! That's mean. It's not like you chose a normal hair color either." My sister pouted and blushed. I laughed at my sister's embarrassment.

"I didn't say silver hair was normal. I said you had really bright hair." I told her again

"Whatever, I like the pink, deal with it." She said with a sassy tone.

"Fair enough" I told her. I lifted my hand towards the brilliant orange sky. "This is almost… too real."

A bell began to ring and blue particles began surrounding me and my sister and I recognized the particles as what happens when a player uses a teleportation item, but neither of us had used a crystal so we began to panic

"Tsubaki!"

"Ren!"

We were teleported to the starting courtyard and it seemed every player was teleported along with us. The bell was still ringing as all of the players began to feel fear. My sister latched onto my arm and I held her close. There was mass confusion throughout the courtyard. Then a person motioned to the sky.

"Look there." A red warning hexagon was flashing in the sky. Then the sky was filled with red hexagons that either said WARNING or Special Announcement. A red mass began to seemingly flow from the sky and form into a large hooded figure.

"Attention players, I welcome you to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba and, as of this moment, I am in control of this world. I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus, the logout button, let me assure you this is not a defect in the game. I repeat this is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be. You cannot log yourselves out of SAO and no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the Nerve Gear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain, and ending your life. Despite my warnings families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the Nerve Gear, an unfortunate decision to say the least. As a result the game now has 213 less players than when it began. They have been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world. As you can see international media outlets have round-the-clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point it's safe to assume the likelihood of a Nerve Gear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game. It's important to remember the following. There is no longer any way to revive someone in the game. If your HP drops to zero your avatar will be deleted from the system forever and the Nerve Gear will simultaneously destroy your brain. There's only one way for a player to escape now. You must clear the game. Right now you're gathered on level 1 the lowest level of Aincrad, if you can make it through the dungeon and defeat the boss you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on floor 100 and you clear the game. Last, but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player, please have a look."

I took the mirror item out of my inventory and held it in my hands, a bright white light began to surround any player holding the mirror. When the light faded I looked over to my sister and gasped, she looked like her normal self, not her avatar. I looked at my mirror to find that my avatar had changed to my normal body as well.

"They must have got body size from the calibration." my younger sister told me. When the Nerve gear was first activated the player had to touch their body in certain areas.

"He's about to say something" I told my sister

"Right now you're probably wondering, why? Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and Nerve Gear, do this? Ultimately my goal was a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design."

I grunted in anger at Kayaba. My sister looked surprisingly calm despite the circumstances, I had figured she would be freaking out right about now, but she stood there stoic and silent.

"As you can see, I have achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck." The red figure began to fade into smoke and evaporate into the sky. The red hexagons also disappeared leaving a crowd of confused and scared gamers packed into a courtyard. As one player recovered from shock and began screaming the whole courtyard turned into a frenzy. My sister also began to break down and started to sob. The barrier surrounding the courtyard dissipated so I grabbed my sister and ran. While I was running in the fields my sister looked up at me and asked me something I'd never forget.

"What are we going to do brother?"

"I don't know Tsubaki"

I don't know

 **Thanks for reading you guys. Reviews are highly appreciated and Pm me with any questions or concerns. See ya later guys**


	2. Beaters

This game began a month ago. 2,000 have died and yet, nobody has cleared floor 1. Even us beta testers can't find the boss room. A meeting is being held to locate the boss. We met in an auditorium-like area and a man with blue hair stood on the stage while the rest of us gathered in the stands.

"Ok people. Now that everyone's here. Let's get this meeting started." The man with blue hair spoke. "So anyway, I want to thank everyone for coming, good to see you. My name is Diabel and in this game my job is a knight." People began laughing at Diabel and telling him there weren't classes. Diabel got a serious look on his face and quieted the crowd.

"Right anyways, here's the deal our party found the boss room at the top of the tower today." There were gasps of amazement from the crowd and I felt my sister tense up next to me. "First, we need to defeat the boss and make it to floor 2. Then we need to tell everyone in the Town of Beginnings that it is possible to beat this game. The fact is, it's our duty as the most capable players here do you agree, or not." There was applause from the crowd. My sister looked at me with a large grin on her face. The excitement in her eyes was intense. "Okay, glad you're all with me on this. Now let's figure out how we're going to beat the boss. First off we'll team up into parties of six." My sister looked up with a wary look. Usually we liked it to be just the two of us, but it seemed we would have to change that for a little while. "A typical party doesn't stand a chance against a floor boss. We need a raid group made of multiple parties." I looked around for a group that me and my sister could join. Everyone seemed to form into groups quickly. I looked around and spotted 2 people, a guy and a hooded figure, by themselves. I tapped Tsubaki on her shoulder and motioned for her to follow me. We walked over to the people and I tapped the guy on the shoulder.

"Hey we don't have a party, mind if we join yours?" I asked the young man. He gave a warm smile and accepted. A party invite appeared in front of me and my sister to which we both accepted.

"Nice to meet you guys. I'm Kirito." The guy with black hair said. The hooded figure didn't speak, but I looked up at my party's health bars and found out her name was Asuna. Diabel began to speak again.

"Alright, looks like everyone's teamed up. Now then-"

"Hold on a sec!" A voice from the crowd shouted. A man with spiky brown hair jumped down onto the stage with Diabel. "My name's Kibaou, got that! Before we take on the boss I wanna get something off my chest. We all know about the 2,000 people who've died so far, yeah? Well some of you need to apologize to them right now." I felt Kirito tense up next to me.

"Kibaou, I think I know who you're referring to. You mean the ones who are ex-beta testers, right?" Diabel informed the crowd.

"Of course I mean them. The day this stupid ass game started the beta guys just up-and-vanished, right? They didn't install us beginners. They snagged all the good hunting spots and they grabbed all the easy quests too. They were the only ones getting stronger in here. This whole time they've ignored us like we were nothing." Kibaou grunted in frustration and looked at the crowd "Hell, I bet there's some of them here. Come out beta-testers. We should make them apologize to us and we should make them all give up their money and all the items they got. They can't expect the party to trust them when they don't trust us. Why should we?" My sister also tensed up and I felt Kirito begin to shake when another man spoke up.

"Can I say something?" The hulking brute of a man asked. "Hey, my name's Agil. Kibaou right? I wanna make sure I'm on the same page. You say the ex-beta testers should be blamed for the rookies' deaths because they didn't help them and you want them to apologize and give up their winnings, I leave anything out?" Agil said with a serious, stern look

"No, you didn't." Kibaou said trying to act tough

"The item store hands these out for free." Agil held up a small, leather book "It's a guide book. You got one didn't you?"

"Sure I got one. So what about it?"

"You know who was handing these out? The ex-beta testers." There were gasps from the crowd and whispers throughout the groups. Agil turned to the crowd. "Listen up, everyone had equal access to this information, even so, lots of players still died. I didn't come here to point fingers at anyone, I came here cause I want to learn from those players' deaths. I'm here because I want to know how we're going to beat the boss." Tsubaki, Kirito, and I all relaxed at Agil's words. Kibaou sat down and pouted. Agil sat near him.

"Okay" Diabel started "Can we get back to the meeting now? For info on the boss, it's all in here." Diabel held up the leather guide book. "The latest issue of the guild book you just heard about. According to the book the boss's name is, Ilfang the Cobald Lord, also he'll be surrounded by his minions, the Ruined Cobald Sentinels. Ilfang carries an axe and a buckler, he has four health bars and when the last one turns red, he switches to a curved, sword-type weapon called a Talwar. He can change his patterns of attack too." There were whispers among the crowd over the information we had all received. "That's it for the briefing. As for the distribution of loot, money will be divided equally among everyone, the party that defeats the boss gets the Exp, and whoever gets an item, gets to keep it. Any objections?" There was slight whispers, but no one stood up to disagree. "Good, we'll meet at 10:00 in the morning. Meeting adjourned people." The parties began gathering together and talking about their strategies. Asuna quickly left the auditorium without saying a word to any of us. I looked over at Kirito and gave him another tap on the shoulder.

"Hey we want to talk to you about something, in private." I told him

"Yeah sure, what is it?" He asked confused

"You were a beta tester weren't you." I asked him

"Uh, I don't know what you're talking about." He said worriedly. I knew he was lying so I gave him a glare, but my sister had to go and open her mouth.

"Yay! There's more people like us Tetsu." She quickly covered her mouth, realizing what she had just said. I slapped my hand to my forehead and my sister's face became a bright crimson. Kirito sighed with relief.

"I thought you were gonna try and turn me over to Kibaou or something." He said with a sense of relief.

"Nope we wouldn't do that to a fellow beta tester. Although I would have liked to mess with you a bit more before telling you, but my sister here has a large mouth." I laughed at my sister as her face turned an even darker shade of red. "So we're going to go with everyone else to have some drinks or whatever they're doing, want to join us?" I inquired

"No I think I'm going to go and try to find Asuna, but thanks for the offer."

"No problem, see you tomorrow I guess. Come on Kasai, time for some fun." I put my arm around my sister and we went with the raid group to a small party.

 **A Few Hours Later…**

It was now dark outside. The whole raid group was having drinks, laughing, and having an all-around good time. My sister and I had retired to our hotel room an hour or two before and we were talking about the raid tomorrow.

"I'm so excited, it's eating me alive." My sister said drooling over the thought of a boss battle.

"I know Tsubaki. It should be fun, unless we lose some people." I told her in a serious tone

"Why do you always have to be a downer." She pouted

"Well we are playing a death game." I told her "I'm not exactly one to ignore the obvious, but if we succeed and we have minimum losses that would be great." I looked out of the room window into the alleyway below to see Kirito sitting next to Asuna. Asuna was eating a loaf of bread and Kirito pulled out one of his own. I motioned for my sister to be quiet and I opened the window slightly to hear what they were saying.

"You really think these taste good?" She asked him

"Uh huh. Since I came to this town I end up eating at least one a day. Of course, I have a trick to make it taste better."

"What trick?" Asuna questioned again. Kirito set down a jar-like item between them.

"Try it with some of that." He told her. Asuna tapped the jar and a blue glow appeared around her finger. Kirito motioned for her to use it on her loaf. She spread the cream in the jar on her bread as did Kirito.

"Cream?" Asuna questioned. Asuna took a bite out of her loaf and soon devoured the whole thing.

"I got it from the 'Heifer Strikes Back' quest, it's in the town before you get to this one. You wanna know how I did it?" Asuna shook her head

"I appreciate the offer, but I didn't come to this town to eat good food." She told him

"Okay, why are you here?" He asked her.

"So I don't lose sight of who I am. I don't wanna lock myself up in a room in the Town of Beginnings and slowly rot away, I'd rather stay the way I am til the last moment." Asuna paused for a moment. "Even if a monster beats me and I die. I won't lose. To this game or this world. No matter what." Kirito finished the rest of his loaf of bread

"I wouldn't want a party member dying on me, so try not to die tomorrow."

"Me neither, so you two better get some rest for tomorrow." I called to them out of the window. My sister also peeked her head outside

"Yeah you two better not die."

"How long have you two been listening!" Kirito said with crimson cheeks

"Oh about since you sat down." Tsubaki told him bluntly. Kirito became an even darker shade of red. I began to laugh at his embarassment and I heard Asuna giggle a little. After the laughter had died down Asuna and Kirito went to their hotel rooms and my sister and I drifted off into sleep.

 **The next morning…**

The whole raid group was walking though a forest to the dungeon and Kirito was explaining our strategy to Asuna.

"Let's go over it again. We're the back-up so our target is the boss's minions, the Ruined Cobald Sentinels." He explained

"I know." She replied.

"Me and Tetsu will use sword skills to knock their weapons up and out of the way, when we do you and Kasai will switch and attack."

"What's a switch?" Asuna questioned

"Ok, level with me. Is this the first time you've ever been in a party?" He asked

"Uh huh." She answered. Kirito looked in disbelief. We walked through the forest and finally reached the dungeon.

 **A few hours later…**

We had reached the top of the dungeon and stood in front of a large set of doors. Diabel turned to face the group and drove his sword into the ground.

"Listen up everyone. I've only got one thing to say to you. Let's win! Come on!" Diabel pushed open the large doors and everyone began to draw their weapons. I drew my dark-colored scimitar while my sister drew her white gladius blade. People began to flood into the room as the giant, fat, red rat-like creature jumped to battle us. Weilding an axe and shield it growled menacingly at us. The Boss's sentinels also appeared weilding what looked like stone maces. The creatures charged our group. Diabel called out to the group

"Commence attack!" He called. The whole raid group began to run at Ilfang and his minions. Swords began to clash and the sound of metal hitting metal was everywhere. From the back of the group Diabel was calling commands.

"Squads A and C. Switch in!" The beast growled. "Squad B. Block! Squad C keep guarding and prepare to switch. Everyone else you fall back, regroup, and flank them. Squads D, E, and F. Keep those minions off us!"

"Yeah. Got it." Kirito called. Kirito and I both lunged in and cut away the minions' weapons, then yelled switch. Asuna and Tsubaki both ran in and stabbed the monsters. Asuna's skill was much more impressive than any of us had expected. She was lightning fast. We attacked another group of monsters before we heard the boss growl much louder than before. When I looked over I noticed he was on his last health bar and it was in the red zone. The beast threw away his axe and shield. Diabel ran up to confront the beast on his own, but he had told us the plan was for the group to surround the beast. Diabel then looked over at Kirito and I and smirked. When the beast pulled out it's second weapon me and Kirito both noticed something was wrong.

"That's not a Talwar. It's an Odachi!" We called out in unison. "Wait stop!" we called again. Diabel couldn't react in time and was slashed multiple times by the beast. Kirito, Tsubaki and I ran over to Diabel's body. Kirito was the one to speak to him.

"Diabel!" Kirito lifted him up. "What the hell were you thinking." He pulled out a health potion, but Diabel pushed it back towards him.

"You know. You guys were beta testers too, weren't you." He croaked out. We all gasped at his words.

"You were after a last attack bonus rare item." Kirito said. "You're just like us. A beta tester." Diabel gave a small smile.

"Please. You have to defeat the boss. For everyone here." Diabel croaked out his final words and disappeared into the crystalline triangles, signifying his death. Kirito looked at the empty space in shock as Tsubaki began to sob into my shoulder. Diabel was different than me. I only cared about what happened to me and Tsubaki, nothing else mattered, but he wasn't like that, he brought other players together and led everyone. He fought brilliantly and tried to accomplish something I couldn't.

Kirito stood up with a look of determination in his eyes. Asuna appeared beside us.

"I'll go too." She said

"Yeah. So will we." I told Kirito

"Okay." He said simply. We began to run at the large, hulking boss "We'll attack them just like the minions.

"You got it" Asuna said. Tsubaki and I nodded in agreement. The boss transferred his attention to us and began to activate a sword skill. Kirito and I began to charge up sword skills as well. Both of us hit the beasts blade and knocked it back. We called for a switch. Asuna and Tsubaki rushed in and prepared to attack, but the beast was quick to attack. My sister was able to avoid the blade and Asuna's cloak was destroyed, but she was unharmed. Tsubaki stood there in amazement at Asuna's ability as she stabbed the monster with her rapier. The only word to describe Asuna was radiant. The monster began to attack again so once again Kirito and I knocked it's blade away and Asuna and Tsubaki lunged into the beast. Kirito and I blocked the blade a few times more before we were caught off guard and hit by the beast, knocking us back into our partners. The beast was looming over us and prepared the strike, but when the beast went to strike it was blocked by Agil. A group began to charge the beast and Agil turned to us.

"We can hold this bastard off until your health's back up." He said. He turned and charged the beast again. The beast was able to fend off the small group and was about to attack, but Kirito and I got up and charged.

"Watch out!" Kirito called to the group. We both activated sword skills and lunged at the beast, knocking it to the ground. "Come on you guys. Let's beat this sucker. One last attack!" He called out again. We charged the beast at once. Kirito and I blocked it's sword. Asuna and Tsubaki stabbed it again. Kirito and I both saw an opening and went in with a sword skill. We both sliced the monster's body apart which caused it to burst into crystalline triangles. There was an eerie silence in the room until the 'Congratulations!' notification popped up in the middle of the room. All the players began to cheer and look at their winnings. Kirito was on one knee and I was laying on my back from pure exhaustion. I looked up at the notification in front of me to see that I had received a bonus item, The Sword of Twilight. I looked at Kirito and we flashed the biggest grins we could manage at each other. Asuna, Tsubaki, and Agil all walked up to us.

"Nice job." Asuna told us.

"That was some fine swordsmanship. Congratulations. This victory is all thanks to you." Agil congratulated us. Kirito denied their thanks and I shook my head in disagreement, but we were quickly told otherwise by the whole party and received a round of applause.

"Stop cheering!" Kibaou called from the crowd. "Why'd you do it huh? Why'd you let Diabel die?"

"Let him die?" Kirito questioned

"That's what I said! Admit it. You knew the technique the boss was going to use. You could have told us and Diabel would have stood a chance. He wouldn't have had to die!" There were whispers among the crowd.

"I know why they knew!" A voice called from the crowd "They used to be beta testers. Think about it! They knew the boss's attack patterns. They knew, but they kept it from us. And I bet they aren't the only beta testers here. Come on! Show yourselves." My sister stood by me and Kirito and there were whispers among the crowd. I looked at Kirito and knew what he was thinking. I gave him a quick nod and we stood up while Agil was trying to calm the others. Kirito began to laugh.

"So you guys think we used to be beta testers?" Kirito asked.

"We shouldn't even be considered on the same level as those noobs." I said with a smirk

"Yeah. They're pathetic." My sister added.

"What'd you say!" Kibaou said angrily.

"You heard us. Most of the people who scored a slot in the beta were rookies. They were so green. They didn't even know how to level up. Hell, even you guys are better than they were. Us? We're nothing like them. During the beta we made it to floors higher than any of the other testers, and that's a fact. I knew about the boss because we fought tons of monsters with way more sword skills on higher floors. We know a bunch of other things too. More than you can imagine. More than any info broker." We gave them cocky smirks to sell our lie and it seemingly worked.

"What the hell. You're worse than beta testers. You're god damn cheaters!" Kibaou called out.

"They're beta testers and cheaters! They're Beaters!" A voice called out.

"Beaters? Yeah that's it. I like it. Okay you can call us Beaters." Kirito equipped his 'Coat of Midnight' while I equipped my 'Sword of Twilight' and a normal cloak. Tsubaki also equipped a cloak. "Just make sure you don't confuse us with those lousy beta testers anymore." The three of us began to leave the dungeon. Asuna ran after us and stopped us.

"Wait." She called to Kirito "When we were fighting the boss you called me by my name."

"I wasn't trying to be rude." He told her "Did I mess up the pronunciation?"

"How'd you even know it?" She asked

"If you look right about here." I pointed above her head. "You should see all of our names right under yours."

"Ki-ri-to. Tet-su. Ka-sai. Oh those are your names." Asuna started to giggle "I'm so dumb. They were there the whole time and I never knew it.

"You can become powerful on your own." Kirito told her "But if the day comes when someone you trust invites you to join a guild. Don't turn it down. There are limits to what a solo player can do."

"But. You're solo." She told him. Kirito moved without saying a word and removed Asuna from our party. The exit from the dungeon opened up and we left the dungeon and onto floor 2.


	3. The Red-Nosed Reindeer

About 5 months have passed since we defeated the first boss. Kirito, Tsubaki, and I all found ourselves in a tavern on the 11th floor with people we had just met the day before. They were a small guild of five friends. They were Sachi, a timid girl who didn't talk much, Sasamaru, an easy going guy that didn't talk much either, Tetsuo, a guy who liked to laugh and cheer the group up, Ducker, the loud mouth of the group and the comedic relief, and finally Keita, the leader of the group.

"Here's to us The Moonlit Black Cats!" One of them called "Cheers everyone!"

"Cheers!" The five of them called

"I got another. Here's to the guy who saved our lives and his two companions of course. To Kirito."

"To Kirito" They called out again

"By the way are you two ever going to talk or show your faces?" Ducker pointed at me and my sister. Kirito looked at us and gave us a nod. My sister and I unequipped our cloaks to show the others who we were. The guys in the group began to pay much more attention to my sister.

"A g-girl." Ducker said aloud. My sister began to giggle at their amazement.

"Hey, I'm a girl too." Sachi scolded.

"If you touch my sister." I pointed at the guys "I gut you." The group quieted down after I made threats and Tsubaki gave me a death glare. "I'm Ren and this is my sister Tsubaki."

"Wait why'd you tell them our real names?" Tsubaki asked

"Oh whoops, accident." I replied. The whole group began to laugh. Kirito turned back towards us.

"Why didn't you tell me your names before?" Kirito questioned

"I don't know." I shrugged "It never came up before." Keita and Sachi leaned in and began to whisper to us

"I hope you don't my asking." Keita started. "But I wanted to know. Around what level are you guys at?"

"Oh we're about level 20" Kirito lied. Kirito was level 40, I was 38, and my sister was 37.

"Oh really. You're at our level and still train solo? You guys are an inspiration sirs and ma'am"

"Keita we aren't your superiors. Training on our own means we have to train against enemies in the boonies. It's not very efficient." Kirito corrected him

"Oh. Right. Well in that case, I hate to spring this on you guys here, but if you want we'd love to have you guys in our guild. Our mace wielder, Tetsuo, is the only one we can put out front right now and then we've got Sachi over here. I was thinking of having her switch to sword and shield. That way she can fight on the front lines. The thing is she says she's not sure that she can handle it. If you join us maybe you guys could teach her a thing or two."

"Oh come on. I'm not that useless. Seriously, you can't just put me up front and expect me to know what to do. I'd be terrified."

"It's no big deal, just hide behind your shield." Keita told her

"Yeah, right." Tetsuo spoke up "Ever since I can remember you've been a scaredy cat."

"See we always mess around like that. In real life we all go to the same high school and are part of the computer club. But if you guys are worried about fitting in, don't. As far as I'm concerned you're already a part of our group. Right?" The rest of the guild nodded in agreement.

"Well we're really flattered and thanks for the offer-" Kirito started

"We accept." My sister blurted out. I shrugged my shoulders in agreement.

"Why not. Being in a guild could be a little change of pace." I told them "It should be fun." The guild members became elated at our acceptance. They began to gather around us and we all talked and drank the night away.

 **About a month later…**

We had been training together as a guild for about a month now. Our training had brought us to floor 20, the sunlit forest, where we were trying to level up and get enough money for a house. The monster we were fighting was a giant praying mantis.

Sasamaru jabbed at the mantis with his spear and the beast slashed at Sachi, but she was able to block it with her shield. I looked at Kirito and he gave me a nod.

"Sachi get back." I called "I got this." I lunged in and activated a sword skill and was able to cut off one of the beast's blades. "Tetsuo! Switch!" I called out. Tetsuo ran in, activated a skill, and smashed the mantis' midsection, killing it. After we had killed the beast we went to a field for lunch. Keita was reading the report on the assault team.

"The assault team made it to floor 28. That's amazing!" He turned to look at Kirito who was eating some type of snack bar "Hey Kirito. What does the assault team have that we don't?"

"Well, access to information, with that they can find out the easiest ways to get Exp and they don't share that information." He answered

"Yeah, you're probably right." Keita sighed "But the thing that really sets them apart is willpower."

"What do you mean?" I asked Keita. He sat up and looked at the beautiful landscape in front of us.

"I guess what I mean is, they have the will to stick up for their friends or any player for that matter. Truth is, I like to think we have that same kind of drive. Even though we still need their protection. That said, our first priority is looking out for each other, but some day if we get strong enough we'll join the elites on the assault team."

"I see. That's a good goal." Kirito responded. Ducker jumped down behind Keita

"Hey. Leader." He said "Gimme some love!" Ducker put Keita into a chokehold

"So you really think we could be as strong as the Holy Dragon Alliance or the Knights of the Blood Oath?" Tetsuo asked

"Yeah, so what if I do." Keita gasped out "There's nothing wrong with setting our sights high, but we have to be level thirty first!"

"That's Impossible!" Sachi complained. The group of friends began laughing with each other. I looked at them with a smile. I tapped my sister on the shoulder and nodded my head.

"Hey guys me and Kasai are going to go shopping see ya later!" I called out. My sister and I used teleport crystals to get to the nearest village. We began to walk through the marketplace and I turned to my sister. "What do you think about the whole guild thing Tsubaki?" I asked her.

"I don't know. It takes a while to level up, but it's fun. Plus, Ducker is pretty cute." She smiled at the sky.

"If he touches you in any way, shape, or form, I can't be held accountable for what happens to him." I glared at my younger sister

"Oh come on. It's only a game. Have some fun." She whined

"You won't be having that kind of fun as long as I'm around missy." I scolded. My sister pouted, but we kept walking. I looked at a weapons display and noticed a unique piece. I walked over to the stand and looked closely at it. It was a long sabre with a bright blue blade and next to it was a red talwar. I flashed a grin at my sister and she violently nodded her head with an ecstatic smile. I paid the stand owner, we sheathed our new swords, and we began to make our way to where the guild was staying.

 **A Few Hours Later…**

The guild met in a room of the inn we were staying at.

"I have an announcement to make." Keita said. I looked over to see my sister making googly eyes at Ducker. I lightly elbowed her and nodded towards Keita. "Uh. After our latest hunts in the field, We've got 200,000 Col!" He announced. The guild members began to cheer.

"Buying a house of our own doesn't seem like such a dream anymore." Tetsuo said aloud

"I know! We should upgrade Sachi's equipment." Sasamaru called out

"Good idea." Said Keita. Sachi shook her head

"I'm fine with what I have." She said

"Oh come on. You know, it's not fair to make those three be up front all the time." Ducker pointed at us.

"I'm sorry." Sachi told us

"Don't worry about us." Kirito responded "We're cool with it." I nodded at Sachi to tell her it was alright as well. I looked over to find my sister looking at Ducker yet again.

"And maybe if my sister wasn't daydreaming over Ducker, she'd tell you the same." My sister's face went the darkest shade of crimson I had ever seen, it was almost as red as her blade. The guild began to chuckle as she turned bright red. After everyone had calmed down Keita went back to the meeting.

"Thanks you guys." Keita acknowledged us. "Sachi, I know switching jobs isn't easy, but seriously, you're almost there. You can do it, I know it!" He encouraged her. Sachi stared at the ground in embarrassment. Keita ended the meeting there so everyone began to go to their rooms. As Sachi began to leave I stopped her.

"You're gonna do great. I promise." I told her. She gave me a smile and walked to her room. My sister gave me a death glare. "What?" I asked her.

"So I can't flirt with Ducker, but you can flirt with Sachi as much as you please." She said in a sassy tone.

"What are you talking about? I wasn't flirting." I told her

"Yes you were." She retorted.

"Whatever Tsubaki" I rolled my eyes at her. My sister and I went to our room

 **One Hour Later…**

There was a knock on our door. I opened the door to find Kirito standing outside.

"Hey what's up buddy?" I asked him.

"I'm going out to train. I just thought I'd tell you guys." He told me.

"Oh ok." I said. He began to walk away so I shut our door.

"What did Kirito want?" My sister asked.

"He just said he was going training." I told her. I looked over to see that my sister was messaging someone. "Are you seriously messaging Ducker?" I asked her.

"Yup." She responded. I groaned with discontent, but realized there was nothing I could do to stop her so I left her to her messages.

It had been about a half hour since Kirito had left before I heard another knock on the door. I got up yet again to see who was at our door. I opened it to find a panicked looking Keita.

"Guys. Sachi isn't in her room. I already sent Kirito a message. We need to find her. Come help us search." He told us before he ran off to tell the others.

"What did he say?" My sister asked yet again.

"Sachi is missing, we need to go find her." I told my boy-crazy sister. We left the inn and split up to find Sachi. I was wandering around the town when I thought I heard talking coming from the canals. I went down to find Sachi and Kirito talking.

"Run away? From what?" I heard Kirito say. I listened a little closer

"From this town. From the monsters. From the Moonlit Black Cats." She answered "And from Sword Art Online too."

"Are you talking about suicide?" Kirito said surprised. Sachi giggled.

"That's not such a bad idea." Kirito gasped "Sorry, no. If I had the guts to die. I wouldn't do it in town where it's safe, would I?" Kirito sighed in relief "But really, why can't we just leave. Why do we have to die when it's just a stupid game. What's the point of going through this?" She asked

"Yeah, there is no point." I answered. Sachi and Kirito looked up at me.

"How long have you been there?" Kirito asked

"Oh since about the running away thing." I told him

"I-I'm so afraid of dying in here." Sachi said. Kirito and I turned our attention to her. "I'm so scared. I haven't been able to get any sleep lately."

"You're not going to die." I told her. She looked up at the two of us.

"Really? How can you be so sure?" She inquired

"The Black Cats are strong enough as a guild." Kirito answered "Besides our margin of safety is well above the norm. Plus you have Tetsuo, me and the siblings upfront." Kirito told her. "So there's no reason for you to be on the front lines with us."

"You guys honestly don't think I'll die?" Sachi asked again. "Will I make it back to the real world?"

"Yeah, you're not gonna die." I told her.

"You'll see." Kirito said "We'll clear this game and go home soon." Sachi looked at us and began to smile. A single tear ran down her face. I walked over to her and put out my hand. Sachi grabbed my hand, I pulled her up, and we made our way back to the inn. After everything had settled down and the rest of the guild realized Sachi was safe and sound everyone went to their rooms. I went with Kirito to his room so we could talk. After a few minutes of talking there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Kirito called. Sachi walked into the room with a nightgown on and a pillow.

"I'm sorry, I can't seem to get to sleep." She said

"Well I think it's about time I go to my room anyways." I got up and began to walk out of the room. "Goodnight guys." I called to them

"Goodnight." They responded in unison. I went into my room to find my sister still messaging Ducker.

"Tsubaki, go to sleep." I told her

"Fine." She closed her messenger and rolled onto her side. I got into my own bed and soon fell asleep.

 **The Next Morning…**

After everyone in the guild was up and ready we congregated by the teleporter where Keita was going to buy our house.

"Ok. I'm heading out." He waved to us "Teleport, Town of Beginnings." a bright light appeared and when it dissipated Keita was in the Town of Beginnings.

"Can you believe it? I never thought buying a house would be so exciting." Sasamaru said. My sister was latched onto Ducker's arm and I was glaring at the both of them.

"Dude, you sound like an old man." Ducker elbowed Sasamaru.

"Hey while Keita is off, buying the house, why don't we go out and raise some extra cash." Tetsuo purposed.

"Oh, then we can buy furniture." Sachi said with a smile.

"Come on, Let's go to a dungeon on a higher floor!" Ducker suggested.

"I don't know guys, I think we should stick to our normal hunting grounds." I told them

"But up there we can make more and faster." Sasamaru told me.

"Yeah and at our levels we don't have anything to worry about." Kirito and I gave them concerned looks, but there was nothing we could do so we traveled to the floor 27 dungeon. The dungeon was made of mostly crystalline looking bricks, blue-green in color. We walked through the dungeon without much trouble. My sister, Ducker, and I stayed towards the back of the group. My sister and Ducker were whispering to each other. I looked over to see Ducker pat my sister on the butt. I don't think I could have drawn my sword faster. The other members looked back to see my blade in front of Duckers throat and his terrified face. They began to laugh at the situation.

"You touch her again." I told him "I won't stop." Ducker quickly moved to the front of the group with his friends still laughing at him. My sister gave me a death glare, but I shrugged my shoulders, sheathed my sword, and we moved on. After a bit of walking Ducker spoke.

"See, what'd I tell you guys. This dungeon is cake." He said

"We might even be able to reach the front lines sooner." Sasamaru said.

"That's what I'm talking about." Ducker said. He then spotted a doorway and ran towards it. He screamed once he reached it. "A chest!" He called out. The others ran for it and Kirito tried to warn them but he was inside the room as well. "Wait!" He called out. Before me and my sister could reach the door it shut behind them. I ran up to the door and began banging on it. My sister and I began to panic. I heard monsters appear in the room.

"It's a trap guys!" Kirito called. "Hurry let's get out of here!"

"Teleport, Taft!" I heard Ducker call, but I didn't hear the teleport noise "Teleport, Taft!" He called again.

"We can't use our crystals." I heard Sachi's voice. I began to bang on the door again.

"Their probably being blocked by the walls." Kirito told them. I heard the fighting begin. Not soon after I heard a scream and then a death noise.

"DUCKER!" I screamed. My sister covered her mouth, collapsed on the ground, and began to sob

Another scream.

"TETSUO!" I yelled once again. Tears began flowing from my eyes

Yet another scream.

"SASAMARU!"

I heard one last scream of pain

"SACHI!" I screamed louder than I ever had before. I collapsed on the ground and began to sob uncontrollably. After minutes of hearing Kirito grunt and scream while fighting the door finally opened. Kirito couldn't look my sister or I in the eye, he only stared at the floor.

"I couldn't do it." He whispered "I couldn't protect her" Kirito broke down and began to sob. After minutes of the three of us sobbing we finally got up and made our way out of the dungeon. We went to find Keita in Taft. Where we had to tell him what happened.

"What…" he said in disbelief

"I'm sorry." I couldn't look him in the eye. "There was nothing we could do."

"You lied to us. You're beaters! You never belonged with us." Keita scolded. He made his way over to the railing, stood on it, then threw himself off. We couldn't stop him in time. Just like the others.

We couldn't save them.

 **December 24 2023. Floor 35 Forest Maze…**

It had been 6 months since the death of our entire guild. Since then Kirito had left us to go solo and my sister and I were still together. We had learned some information on a secret boss that dropped a revival item and we knew where to look.

"Tsubaki, if we get this revival item we can bring one of them back." I told her.

"I know. We need to." She said solemnly. We were going through a fir forest on floor to find where the event boss was going to be and there was a special tree that I had a feeling would have to do with the event. We walked through a strange transparent force field to find Kirito and a guild dressed in red.

"Don't be risking your life for some rumor that could turn out to be bogus." The leader of the group told Kirito.

"Long time no see Kirito." I called out. The whole group turned towards me and my sister and drew their weapons.

"It's okay. Their cool" Kirito told them. Their leader commanded them to put away their weapons. Their leader turned back to Kirito

"You can't go messing around in this death game. Once your Hp hits zero that's it. In the real world your brain gets-"

"Shut up." Kirito interrupted him

"I'm trying to get you to stop with all your stupid soloing. Come on, join up with us. Whoever gets the dropped revival item gets to keep it, no hard feelings." he told Kirito. "That's fair, isn't it?"

"But then, there'd be no point." Kirito drew his sword "I have to do this. Alone." The guild in red drew their weapons again and once again they were calmed by their leader.

"Think about what you're doing Kirito. It's suicide!" He called out

"You can't go out like that man." I told him "Come on, quit it." Just as I finished more people began to appear around us.

"I guess you were followed too huh?" Kirito told the leader of the red guild.

"It sure looks that way." He responded. His guild drew their weapons at the soldiers in white armor.

"It's the Holy Dragon Alliance." One of the guild members said

"They'll do anything for an item. No matter how shady." Another said.

"What do we do?" Another called

"Screw these guys! Get out of here Kirito!" Their leader spoke.

"No way!" He said

"Leave them to us. We can handle them." I told him. Kirito ran towards the fir tree where the boss would appear. The men in white began to charge. as we began to fight them. I heard Kirito's fight begin/

 **Two Hours Later…**

The Holy Dragon Alliance had retreated and we all sat in the snow in exhaustion.

"Hey." I called out to their leader who looked up. "I'm Tetsu, but since Kirito seems to trust you, you can just call me by my real name. I'm Ren and this is my sister Tsubaki."

"Nice to meet you guys" he breathed heavily "I'm Klein."

Kirito walked out of the forest with a downtrodden look holding a strange item in his hand.

"Kirito." Klein, Tsubaki, and I called out. Kirito threw the item at Klein.

"I know why you two came for it. You won't be able to use it either." Kirito told me and Tsubaki.

"What? Must be administered to affected player. Within ten seconds!" Klein called out. I looked down realizing that I had no use for that item.

"If anyone dies in front of you one day, make sure to use it on them." Kirito told Klein. He began to walk away before Klein stopped him.

"Kirito. Listen. Stay alive, I don't care how you do it. Just stay alive. Til the end." Tears began to stream from Klein's eyes. I walked up behind him and patted him on the back.

"Don't worry. My sister and I will keep him alive." I told Klein. "You can't get rid of us Kirito." I told him.

"Fine." He said. He motioned for us to follow as we began to leave.

"See you." I heard Klein whisper as we left.

After that whole mess we went back to our inn and went to our rooms. I was silently sobbing while my sister slept.

"I couldn't save her." I told myself "I'm sorry Sachi." A green notification appeared in front of my face. I tapped it and it opened to reveal what it was.

Gift Box From Sachi

"Sachi." I whispered to myself. I tapped the message and a small diamond shaped object floated in front of me. There was a button on the diamond that I tapped which caused it to light up.

"Merry Christmas, Ren." I began to sob harder as I heard Sachi's voice. "By the time you hear this, I'll probably be dead. How can I explain this? Let's see. To tell you the truth, I never really wanted to leave the town of beginnings and I knew if I fought with an attitude like that I would end up dying someday, but that's not anyone's fault. It's something I have to deal with. When you and Kirito found me you told me I wasn't going to die, but what if I got killed anyway. I knew that if I died that you two would blame yourselves. That's why I decided to record this for you. By the way I know how powerful you two are, and Tsubaki too. Sorry, I saw it on Kirito's friends list. I wondered why you guys lied about your levels. I wondered why you decided to join us. I never figured it out though. When I found out how strong you guys were it made me so happy. I felt relieved. So even if I die. Promise me you'll go on living, okay? Ren, stay alive so you can see the end of this world and why it was created. Find out why a weakling like me ended up here. Find out the reason that we met. That's what I wish. I still have to make Kirito a message, but there's some time left for this one so I'll sing for you, considering it's Christmas and all.." I began sobbing without restraint as Sachi began to hum The Red-Nosed Reindeer. I felt my sister hug me from behind. I got up and hugged my sister. I felt her warm tears on my shoulder. "Anyways Ren. I'm so glad we met and that I could be with you even for a little while. Thank you. Goodbye." My sister and I began sobbing loudly at the end of the message. The crystal fell onto the table as me and my sister were still in each other's arms, crying.

No Sachi. Thank you.

 **Alright Guys That's the end. Hope you enjoyed. Any reviews are appreciated and If you have any questions don't be afraid to Pm me. This is Trevor, signing out.**


	4. Twins of Fire and Ice

**February 23 2024, Floor 35 Lost Forest…**

I looked below me at a strange scene. Two girls in a party together arguing. One of them I knew, the other I didn't. The only reason I knew her is because Kirito and I were after her. We hadn't brought Tsubaki along with us this time because we figured 3 people would be overkill for this mission.

"What're you talking about?" The red-haired criminal spoke. "Why should we have to share these healing crystals with you? Your pet lizard has healing powers you know." The small blue dragon-like creature on the other girl's head screeched.

"You never fight on the front lines. So who are you to talk. You don't need to use any crystals." The much younger girl with brown hair argued.

"Of course I do." The red-haired girl replied. "You're the popular one around here, Silica, I can't expect the boys to help me when I need it." the younger girl known as Silica pouted at the older girl.

"Oh come on it's not like that." One of the party members retorted.

"Fine I don't care. You want my items? Take them." Silica told her "But I'm never going to team up with you again. I know there's a ton of other parties out there who'd love to have me on their side." Silica stormed away from the party she'd just left.

"Wait. Don't go." One of the members called out to her. "Silica." Kirito leaned in to whisper to me.

"I've got a bad feeling about this. Let's follow Silica." I nodded in agreement and we left our target to find Silica. After about an hour of following her, Silica had gotten into a fight with three large bipedal apes wielding large clubs. Silica was able to dodge their attacks, but she only had about half of her Hp. When she reached back and realized she didn't have any healing crystals one of the apes struck her with it's club. Silica was thrown back into a tree and her health dropped immensely the apes approached again and that's when Kirito looked over to me and nodded. We jumped down behind the apes and made quick work of them, but we couldn't get there in time to save her lizard. The blue creature had taken a blow to protect Silica. Silica looked relieved to see two players instead of the large apes, but she began to cry about her dead companion.

"Pina…" She choked out and tears began to run down her face. "Don't leave me all alone here. Pina." Kirito and I sheathed our swords and approached her.

"What's that feather?" Kirito asked her

"It's Pina." She said while crying. "My best friend."

"You're one of those beast tamers aren't you?" Kirito asked again. "I'm sorry if we got here sooner we could have saved your friend."

"No. It's all my fault." she told him. "I was stupid to think I could make it through the forest on my own. Thank you for saving me. You did what you could."

"That feather." I told her. "Check and see if it has an item name attached to it." Silica tapped on the feather to reveal it's name.

Pina's Heart.

Silica began to cry because of the name.

"Hey don't cry." Kirito told her. "That means Pina's heart's still here. There's a chance you could revive it." Silica looked up in amazement.

"No way, really?" She asked

"Yeah, on the south side of Floor 47 there's a field dungeon called the hill of memories." I told her "I heard that there's a flower at the end to revive familiars." Silica looked happy, but then her expression changed.

"Floor 47 huh." She looked doubtful.

"We'd offer to go get it for you. All you'd have to do is pay for the trip, but the thing is, the flower won't bloom unless the familiar's master is there." I told her

"Thank you so much for telling me." She looked hopeful. "If I work hard to raise my level then someday I'll-"

"Sure, but the time limit is three days to revive it." Kirito told her

"No way." She said "It's all my fault. I'm so sorry Pina." Kirito looked over to me and I gave him a nod. We both stood up.

"It'll be okay." I told her. We began transferring some items to her. "Take this equipment. It should boost you a few levels, plus, with us there it'll work out fine."

"Why would you do all of this for me?" She asked us. Kirito put his hand on his head.

"I'll tell you, but only if you promise not to laugh." Kirito told her.

"I promise I won't." Silica gave him a serious look.

"Alright." Kirito looked away and covered his eyes. "It's because you look like my little sister." Silica began to giggle and Kirito looked away in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry." she told him. "So why did you decide to help me?" She turned to me.

"Hmm, that's a good question. Probably because I couldn't help myself. Who wouldn't help someone in a jam like that. My reason probably isn't as good as his." I told her. She smiled at me and turned back to the item transfer in front of her.

"I know this isn't enough Col to pay you back, but-"

"No it's cool." Kirito told her. "Besides, it works with why we're here. We'll be helping each other out." I gave a nod to Silica to confirm everything.

"Okay then. My name's Silica." She reached her hand out to Kirito.

"My name's Kirito. And that's Tetsu." He told her. I gave a cheesy grin and waved at her. "I guess we'll be working together for a while." He shook her hand. We then left for the town of Mishe.

While walking through Mishe to find an inn someone called out to our group.

"Hey look! It's Silica!." Two guys ran up to us.

"It took you a long time to get back, we got worried." The other said

"Uh um-" Silica started to answer

"You wanna team up with us? We'll take you wherever you want to go."

"That's really nice of you to offer, but. Well I've sorta already agreed to be in a party with these guys." She latched onto both of our arms. The two gave us glares so Silica began to drag us along. "K later bye." She told them quickly. I looked behind us and grinned at the two looking angrily at us. "I didn't mean to put you guys on the spot like that."

"Didn't know you had fans." Kirito told her. "You must be popular."

"No." She frowned "They don't take me seriously. They want me to be their mascot. Maybe they're right. They call me dragon tamer and I guess it went to my head." She began to tear up.

"Nah I wouldn't go that far. You seem far more capable than most of the players I've seen. We'll make it to the flower in no time. I promise." I told her. She began to grin widely.

"Okay." She said wiping away her tears. "Do you live around here?" She asked us.

"I'm on floor 50." Kirito answered. "It's kinda far, so I was thinking about getting a room tonight."

"I don't even have a house." I told them. Silica giggled as I shrugged my shoulders.

"If you stay I could take you guys out for some cheesecake, it's really good here." She told us.

"Well if it isn't Silica." I turned to see the redhead from earlier. "Wow, you actually made it out of the forest alive, good for you girl." Silica grimaced at the woman's words. Kirito leaned in.

"Is something wrong?" He asked Silica.

"Oh no, nothing." Silica put on a smile.

"Hang on, what happened to your little friend, the lizard. Did it run away?" The woman said mockingly.

"Pina died saving me, but I'm gonna get Pina back." Silica told the older woman confidently.

"Really? I guess you'll be heading to the Hill of Memories then. I wonder if you'll be able to clear it at your level." She mocked Silica again. Silica looked discouraged.

"Of course she will." Kirito broke the silence. "It's not that difficult to level."

"Oh god this girl's seduced another player. Not just one, but two. No it's not hard to level, but you don't look that strong." She mocked Kirito and I.

"Looks can be deceiving." I told her. Kirito motioned for Silica and I to follow him and we went into the inn. We sat down at a table and ordered some food.

"Why does she have to be so mean?" Silica asked us.

"Well, is Sword Art Online your first MMO?" Kirito asked her. Silica nodded. "A lot of people's personalities change when they play games online and some actually like playing the game as the bad guy. You see how our cursors are green?" He motioned to the green diamond shaped object above every player's' head. "If you commit a crime against another player, your cursor is going to turn orange. Then they become what's called a red player, the worst, also known as player killers. They're all about murder."

"They kill other players?" She asked fearfully.

"In a normal game they can kill other players, steal their stuff, and no actual harm is done, but Sword Art Online is a little more than unorthodox." I told her. "It's not a game." I tensed up at the thought without realizing it.

"Uh Tetsu?" Silica asked. I realized I was tensing up and calmed myself down.

"I'm sorry. My real name is Ren though, if you prefer that."

"Well I mean I think you guys are good players." She grabbed Kirito's hands. "You saved me and all." I smiled at the young girl.

"Looks like you cheered us up instead." Kirito told her with a smile. "Thank you Silica." The young girl began to blush at Kirito's words and began to freak out and fan herself.

"Wow, where the heck is our cheesecake." Kirito looked confused at her reaction and I laughed at the girl's embarrassment. Our cheesecake came, we ate, and then we rented two rooms, one for guys and one for girl. We said goodnight to Silica and went to our room. We sat in our room and were about to lay down when Kirito said something.

"Oh I forgot to tell Silica something. Come on." I got up and didn't bother changing back into my regular clothes. We walked down the hall to Silica's room where Kirito knocked on the door.

"Silica? You still awake?" He asked.

"Kirito?" She asked.

"I forgot to tell you some stuff about floor 47, but it can wait till tomorrow

"No!" She yelled "Now's a perfect time. I was just thinking about asking you-" There was a pause and then Silica answered the door in a nightgown with a red face. She looked slightly disappointed to see me with Kirito, but didn't say a word. She walked silently to her bed and sat down. Kirito and I moved a table and chairs in front of her bed. I saw her peek up at Kirito, turn a darker shade of red, and then immediately look back down. I realized what was going on and smiled. I poked Silica and she looked at me confused. I leaned in and whispered to her.

"You like him don't you." I teased her. She turned an even darker shade of red and I began to laugh. "It's ok I won't tell him." I whispered again. She had a sigh of relief and her face began to change to a more normal color. Kirito finally had everything situated to begin our talk, but he noticed Silica's red face first.

"What's up? Something wrong?" He asked obliviously.

"No nothing!" Silica answered him. "What's that thing Kirito?" She pointed at the small device that he had placed on the table.

"It's a Mirage Field." He tapped on the blue button in the center of it and a projection showing the floor popped up. Silica giggled.

"It's pretty." She said

"This is town section of the floor." He pointed to a part of the floor. "And that is the Hill of Memories." he pointed to another part. "I was thinking if we take this route we can." Kirito and I both turned our attention to the door. We looked at each other and nodded.

"What's wron-" Silica began to ask

"Shh." Kirito and I both rushed for the door and bursted out of the room. "Who's there!" Kirito called out. We looked to see a figure running down the stairs.

"Uh who was it?" Silica asked.

"An eavesdropper." I answered her.

"But they can't. I mean you can't hear through a door unless you knock first." She retorted.

"But if your listening skill is high enough you can. It takes practice. Not that many players have it." Kirito told her.

"Why would they want to listen to us?" Silica asked. Kirito didn't know the answer ourselves. We said goodnight to Silica once again and went to our room.

"You think is was her and her guild?" I asked Kirito.

"No doubt." Kirito answered.

"Hmm, I guess we'll deal with it tomorrow." I told him. "Night buddy."

"Yeah, goodnight." We both drifted off into a deep sleep.

 **The Next Morning…**

We woke up the next morning to Silica knocking on our door nonstop. We got up and prepared our gear and left for the teleporter. We teleported to floor 47 to find a field of flowers and couples all around.

"Wow." Silica said aloud. "This place is like a dream." she stared in amazement at the fields of flowers.

"I know. The whole floor is covered in flowers." Kirito told her.

"Yeah. That's why it's called the flower garden." I told the young girl. She ran up to one of the fields and began sniffing the flowers. She looked up and noticed all the couples and I could see her face heating up. Kirito walked up behind her.

"Something wrong Silica?" He asked.

"Ah! Nothing!" She said frantically. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"What's wrong?" Kirito asked again.

"No nothing at all." She spoke rapidly. I laughed at her flightiness. Kirito giggled.

"C'mon." He told her with a smile. We began to walk away.

"Oh. Okay." Silica ran after us. We walked out of the main area and onto a small bridge where Kirito stopped and put his hand out to give Silica a Teleport crystal. "What's that for?" Silica asked.

"If anything bad happens while we're in here. I'm going to tell you to warp out. Ok?" He told her. "When I do use this crystal. You can jump to any town you want."

"But-" Silica started.

"No but's use it." Kirito told her strictly.

"I understand." Silica said softly. She put the crystal in her inventory and we began moving again.

"Let's get going. If we take this path it'll lead us right to the Hill of Memories." Kirito told us. We walked a little further before Silica began to talk.

"Um Kirito-" She started, but she was grabbed by the ankles and dragged by a monster. She was too busy flailing, screaming, and holding her skirt up to do anything.

"Calm down. That thing's not that strong." Kirito yelled at her.

"Help Kirito save me, but don't look, but save me, but don't look." She repeated herself. Kirito covered his eyes.

"That'll be." He paused "Difficult."

"Darn you." Silica yelled at the giant plant monster. "Put me. Down!" She cut one of the vine limbs holding her ankles. She then sliced the other vine and, while falling, activated a sword skill and stabbed the monster in the head, killing it. She landed on the ground and looked at us embarrassed. "Did you see anything?" She asked nervously.

"Not really." Kirito covered his eye again and Silica began blushing again. We began to walk again after everyone was calmed down. We walked through the fields and when a double-headed venus flytrap monster appeared Silica began to panic. Kirito and I smiled, drew our swords, and walked towards the monsters. When they snapped at us Kirito and I each sliced a head. We leaned aside to allow Silica to kill the beast. We put our weapons away and began to walk again. She began to talk to Kirito again.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but." She paused "What's your sister like?"

"Why do you want to know?" He asked her

"Well, you said I looked like her. I know it's not polite to ask about your real life, but what's she like?" She asked again

"Yeah I'm interested too." I told Kirito "You've already met my sister, so I'd love to hear about yours."

"Your sister is here?" Silica asked.

"Yeah she decided not to come along when we came here, but she's alive and well." I told the young girl. "Nothing to worry about."

"Well." Kirito started. "I call her my little sister, but she's actually my cousin. We were raised like brother and sister since we were babies, so I doubt she even knows, but I know and I guess that's the reason I avoided her. See, our grandfather is really strict and when I was 8 he made us take classes at the local Kendo dojo, but after a few years, I stopped going. Grandpa beat the hell out of me for that."

"That's awful." Silica told him.

"Yeah man. That really sucks." I sympathized with my friend.

"Anyway, then my sister stood up for me and told him to stop. She said she'd train hard for both of us and she did. She trained hard. She even made it to the nationals."

"She did? How awesome." Silica told him. Silica and I both noticed his somber expression

"Yeah, I've always felt guilty for putting her through that. I wouldn't doubt it if she hates me. God knows she could have been doing something else." Kirito smiled at Silica "Maybe that's why I wanted to help you. In a way, it makes me feel like I'm paying her back."

"If you don't mind me saying." Silica started. "You're wrong. I don't think she hates you at all. She wouldn't work that hard for you if she didn't like you. Promise. I bet she even loves kendo." Kirito smiled at the young girl.

"There you go again making me feel better." He told her. "Maybe you're right. Man I hope so." Silica began to blush again and I patted her on the head.

"Well said." I told her.

"Okay then." Silica said aloud. "I'm gonna do my best too." she walked forward and was immediately caught in a trap. A monster with tentacles grabbed her and began growing upwards. "Kirito." She said weakly. Kirito lunged forward and killed the monster without a second thought and Silica dropped to the ground.

"Ow." She said. Kirito turned around and flashed her a smile. Silica giggled and then quickly pushed her skirt down and began blushing. We walked again and found ourselves at a hill with a strange altar.

"Is that reviving flower around here?" Silica said.

"Yeah, over there." Kirito pointed towards the altar and ran to it. Kirito and I walked up behind her and as she reached the altar a yellow glow appeared and a flower sprouted and grew rapidly. When the flower blossomed Kirito and I gave Silica a nod.

"Go ahead." Kirito told her. "Pick it up." Silica reached in and plucked the flower from the altar

"You sure it'll bring Pina back to life?" She asked us once again. We both nodded at her. "I'm so glad."

"There's supposed to be a bunch of strong monsters lurking around here. Let's revive Pina when we get back to town. I'm sure Pina wouldn't like to be revived in the middle of a fight." I told the girl.

"Okay." She responded. We walked back toward the courtyard taking the same path. When we reached the bridge where Kirito gave Silica the teleport crystal, Kirito and I both stopped. Kirito put a hand on Silica's shoulder to stop her as well.

"Is something wrong?" Silica asked.

"Whoever is hiding come out. Now." I called out. The red-haired girl that Silica had argued with walked out from behind a tree nonchalantly and gave us a slight smirk.

"Rosalia?" Silica questioned.

"If you saw through my hiding skill, your detection skill must be really high swordsmen." Rosalia told Kirito and I. "Oooh. It looks like you were successful on getting your hands on the Pnuema Flower." She told Silica. "Congratulations. Now, hand it over before you get hurt."

"What are you talking about?" Silica asked. Kirito began walking forward, but I put a hand on his chest to stop him, I then walked in front of him while he walked back to stand by Silica.

"Nobody is handing anything over to you Rosalia." I told her playfully. "Not to you or your orange guild. Or should I say, Titan's Hand. You're their leader right?"

"Nice." Rosalia gave a smirk.

"But Rosalia's cursor is green." Silica retorted.

"It's an easy trick." Kirito told her. "The green members find their victims then they lure them straight to the orange players for the ambush."

"That was one of your pals last night, eavesdropping on us wasn't it?" I questioned the redhead.

"Then, the reason you were in that party with me and the others." Silica came to the realization of what was going to happen. "Was to-" She stopped.

"How perceptive." Rosalia said. "I was observing their strength and watching them earn all that beautiful money." Silica gasped in fright. "You were who I was excited about and I was so sad when you left the party, but then you told me you were getting a rare item." Rosalia said deviously. "What I want to know is. If you two knew about me why did you bring her here?" Rosalia questioned us. "Are you dumb? Or does she have you wrapped around her little finger."

"Wrong twice. You're not good at this game." I told her jokingly "See, we've been looking for you, Rosalia."

"What are you talking about?" She questioned again with a slight nervousness in her voice.

"Ten days ago." Kirito started. "You attacked a guild called the Silver Flags, their leader survived, four didn't."

"Oh, the losers with no money." Rosalia said.

"Watch your tongue." I scolded her. "Their leader went back and forth, from the warp point to the front lines, morning til night. With tears he begged everyone he met to avenge his dead friends, but he didn't want you killed. No. He wanted you to go to prison. Do you have any idea how that must have felt?" I questioned her with a glare.

"Can't say I do." Rosalia said with a smirk. "Only idiots take this seriously. So what if we kill someone here. There's no proof dying here means you're dead IRL." She said in a mocking tone. "Anyway, it's time you started worrying about yourselves." She snapped her fingers and about seven men came out from the trees.

"Kirito, there's too many." Silica said frantically. "We should get out of here."

"No, it's ok. Just stay by me." Kirito patted her on the head. "Use the crystal if I say so." Kirito gave me a nod and I began to walk towards the crowd.

"Tetsu!" Silica yelled at me.

"Tetsu?" One of the men questioned.

"Dressed in blue. One handed, no shield. Holy crap it's one of the Fire and Ice twins. Rosalia he's the merciless beater who only plays with his sister on the front lines. He's with the assualt team."

"No way he is." I heard Silica say.

"And that means the guy in black is the black swordsman. He's the solo beater on the front lines. They're both on the assault team!"

Silica looked in amazement at Kirito. He looked over gave her a slight nod and a smile. He turned his attention back to me as I drew my blue sabre.

"Why would someone from the assault team be all the way down here." Rosalia doubted me. "Go on. Take him out." She commanded her guild. They all charged and sliced at me with skills. Silica was trembling.

"I have to save him." She said nervously. Kirito put a hand on her shoulder and pointed towards my health bar. She then noticed that every small chunk that the attacking group took from my health bar was immediately regained. I gave her a smirk and a thumbs-up and turned back to Rosalia. The group ceased their attack because of exhaustion and Rosalia screamed.

"What the hell you idiots!" She scolded. "Just kill him already!"

"About 450 points, give or take a few. That's how much damage the seven of you can inflict on me in ten seconds. I'm level 75 and I have 14,200 Hp. My battle healing skill restores 600 points every ten seconds. We could stand here all day and you wouldn't lay a scratch on me. My friend back there is even stronger than me."

"That's not possible!" One of Rosalia's minions called out.

"Wanna bet? If your numbers are high enough anything is possible. Trust me I've calculated them about 7,543 times and I haven't had a false answer yet. Most MMO's with leveling systems are unfair that way." They gasped in amazement. Kirito threw me a large blue crystal.

"Our client spent his entire fortune on this warp crystal and it's been set to the coordinates of the prison. I'm sending all of you bastards there."

"Well I'm green and if you hurt me you'll go orange." Rosalia said defensively. I lunged towards her and put my sword to her throat. "I play with only my sister and Kirito. They won't mind me being orange for a couple of days." Rosalia dropped her weapon in defeat. I gathered the guild up and used the warp crystal on them. They were all teleported to the Prison and then I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Did that sound good?" I asked Kirito. He began nodding and clapping as he walked forward towards me.

"Great job man. I couldn't have said it better myself. I only have one question. Have you really calculated the formulas in the game 7,543 times?" He asked jokingly.

"Yeah." I told him completely seriously. Silica had recovered from her shock by then and approached me and Kirito.

"That was amazing." She stared at us. I gave her a smirk and then we walked back towards the teleporter and teleported to the town area. We went to an inn and rented a room to revive Pina. Kirito and Silica sat on the bed while I lounged in a chair.

"Sorry Silica." Kirito started. "The whole time we were using you as bait to catch them."

"Yeah sorry." I told her. "We thought you'd be scared if we told you the truth about us." Silica shook her head

"I could never be scared of you cause you guys are good people." She told us. "Uh. Do you really have to leave?" She asked us.

"Yeah." I responded "We've been gone for five days, plus my sister is probably really worried. So we need to get back."

"I think it's cool that you guys are with the assault team. I could try for a hundred years and never make it."

"You know." Kirito started. "Levels are just numbers and a person's strength in this world isn't just an illusion. Sure it's cool and all, but there are more important things than that." Kirito faced her. "We should meet up in the real world. That would be cool cause I like having you as a friend." He gave her a smile and I nodded in agreement.

"Okay we will. I promise." She smiled back at us.

"Ready to revive Pina?" I asked her. She jumped up in elation.

"Yeah!" She yelled. She placed Pina's Heart on the table. The small blue feather floated above the table. She then pulled the Pnuema Flower out of her inventory. She looked up at me and Kirito. We both gave her a nod and she looked back to the feather and flower. She tilted the plant and a small drop came from within the flower and dropped onto the feather. A bright yellow glow filled the room and the small blue dragon screeched once again.

Welcome back Pina.


End file.
